Free Republic

SIR RICHARD BRANSON has joined forces with two of America’s top venture capitalists to slake California’s thirst for environmentally friendly fuels. Branson has injected more than $60m (£32m) into Cilion, a company that will make bioethanol from corn. He is investing alongside Vinod Khosla, the renowned Silicon Valley entrepreneur, and Ron Burkle, a Los Angeles billionaire who counts Bill Clinton among his advisers. The project is the start of a move by Branson’s Virgin empire into environmental businesses, a plan known internally as the Gaia Capitalism Project, after the environmental theory developed by the British scientist James Lovelock. Virgin Fuels,...

The state Republican Party has launched a television ad attacking state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi for mishandling the collapse of the Executive Life Insurance Co. The ad targeting Garamendi, a Democrat running against Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock, R-Thousand Oaks, for lieutenant governor, began running Aug. 28 in the Sacramento and Los Angeles media markets. (snip) ANALYSIS: The GOP advertisement attempts to weaken Garamendi, a former gubernatorial candidate and statewide officeholder, by exploiting what is perhaps his greatest political vulnerability. Garamendi has long been dogged by criticism for allegedly mishandling the collapse of the Executive Life Insurance Co. In 1991,...

BILL GATES 'CHARITY' FOUNDATION FINANCES NEWSPAPER PURCHASES The BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION declares its noble mission is to bring "innovations in health and learning to the global community." But the world's largest philanthropic organization also is among the organizations that collectively loaned nearly $400 million to MEDIANEWS GROUP INC. -- for the acquisition of newspapers in California and Minnesota! "I thought this foundation was all about starving kids, not starving newspapers," mocked one Seattle insider. MORE The GATES FOUNDATION loaned an unspecified amount to MEDIANEWS, along with GENERAL ELECTRIC. In April, MEDIANEWS agreed to buy four newspapers, including the...

Yucaipa is headed by supermarket magnate Ron Burkle, a close friend of former President Clinton. He was recruited by the Guild because of his reputation as a union-friendly boss. Bidding continues for papers McClatchy chain plans to sell... Representatives of the Yucaipa Cos. could visit the Times Leader next week as the deadline looms to submit final bids for six so-called orphan Knight Ridder newspapers. Yucaipa, a California private equity firm, has joined with The Newspaper Guild, a journalists’ union, in an attempt to execute a “worker-friendly” purchase of the papers, including the Times Leader. The McClatchy Co., which is...

Billionaire Ron Burkle's day began with a devastating defeat as documents relating to his bitter divorce were released to the public following a California appeals court ruling. But he had reason to celebrate later Thursday when the court rejected his wife's claim that he had tricked her into accepting an agreement for a fraction of their assets - $30 million plus interest and a house - if the couple ever divorced. Janet Burkle's fraud allegation triggered court and legislative battles over whether their divorce records should be kept sealed. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Burkle's desire for privacy was exploited...

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and the Internet. The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation figures for the period ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group. The NAA reported that average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the last time circulation figures were reported....

Despite the honest policy disputes over Kevin Murray's bill to seal financial records in divorce cases, the debate over S.B. 1015 has focused on just about everything but policy. The story of this bill is a story of how lawmakers and advocates make political calculations. It is about how to know when you're beat, and about cutting your losses to limit the political damage that your opposition may inflict on you down the road. To some, it is a tale of political cowardice. To others, it is a tale of the ultimate political pragmatism and democracy in action. It is...

HILL'S '08' HEADACHE? When Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2008, Bill Clinton's affiliation with billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies could become the new Bill & Hill scandal - the equivalent of Whitewater. It's not that the various Yucaipa funds - which invest money for foreign and domestic investors - have done anything wrong; they haven't. But the company's investments have the potential to create conflicts of interest for the Clintons. Like any U.S. senator, Hillary regularly casts votes that help or harm various interests - including, inevitably, the interests of the multibillion-dollar Yucaipa funds. The issue looms larger in...

Ex-president Bill Clinton stands to reap "tens of millions of dollars" in personal income from his job as an advisor to Yucaipa Companies, a California private equity firm controlled by one of his best friends and biggest political donors, billionaire Ron Burkle. The New York Times reports Sunday that the sweetheart deal comes "without great effort and at virtually no risk" for the former president. "He has put up little of his own money and has no day-to-day responsibilities over how the more than $1 billion in the funds is invested," the paper said. Mr. Burkle, who built his financial...

After leaving the White House in 2001, former President Bill Clinton was inundated with business and job offers, from investment-bank partnerships to seats on corporate boards. He turned them all down, with one exception: He agreed to be an adviser to a family of funds run by the Yucaipa Companies, a California private equity firm controlled by one of his best friends, the billionaire Ronald W. Burkle. Mr. Clinton's arrangement with Mr. Burkle is an unusual one for a former president, giving him the potential to make tens of millions of dollars without great effort and at virtually no risk,...

NEW YORK When the Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America first backed an employee buyout plan to take over nine Knight Ridder papers, it provoked shrugs and snickers. But then came the early morning March 13 announcement that McClatchy, thought as the underdog in the auction, emerged as the winner. Even more shocking: McClatchy's decision to drop a dozen Knight Ridder papers as though they were radioactive. As of last week only a handful of parties, including MediaNews Group, have reportedly taken part in the auction. Only Yucaipa Companies, the private equity firm that is backing the guild's worker friendly takeout,...

NEW YORK A union representing newspaper workers complained Friday that it was not receiving full access to financial information from The McClatchy Co. that it needs to make a bid on 12 newspapers that McClatchy wants to sell. McClatchy said earlier this month that it intended to sell the papers, which include The Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News, as part of its deal to acquire Knight Ridder Inc., the nation's second-largest newspaper company. McClatchy intends to keep the other 20 papers owned by Knight Ridder. The Newspaper Guild-CWA said it was told by McClatchy that the union...

The Newspaper Guild said Friday that its private equity partner, Yucaipa Companies, hasn't been given financial information it wants in order to refine a bid for 12 Knight Ridder newspapers being sold by McClatchy. The Guild said competitors who earlier entered the bidding for all of Knight Ridder have seen information that others interested in just the 12 papers have not. Knight Ridder agreed to be purchased by McClatchy in a $4.5 billion deal announced March 13. McClatchy then said it was selling 12 of Knight Ridder's 32 daily newspapers, including the Mercury News. Yucaipa said it will submit a...

Knight Ridder-McClatchy Newspaper Deal Reveals Ties To Clinton-Gore Financier Yucaipa March 13, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLinenews.org - The long anticipated sale of troubled newspaper publisher Knight Ridder was announced Sunday, with California based McClatchy Co agreeing to a deal valued at $6.5 billion. McClatchy immediately announced it will sell off 12 of KR's low-growth potential products which include the San Jose Mercury and the [much maligned here] Contra Costa Times. The surprise McClatchy offer breaks down to $67.25 a share, of which the San Jose Mercury reports, "$40 of that in cash and the rest in McClatchy...

January 29, 2006 -- BILL Clinton has made corporate reform one of his top causes since leaving the White House. He calls for more "socially responsible" investing, better protection of workers and greater diversity in corporate management. At the same time, he condemns cronyism, excessive pay for top management and an alleged emphasis on short-term profits at the expense of workers. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee — has bashed corporations for their failure to live up to their pension obligations. Yet, as the senior adviser to two investment funds...

The word in Michael Jackson circles is that the beleaguered pop star has found a white knight: billionaire Ron Burkle. Jackson has gone to the tycoon hoping that Burkle, who is reportedly worth $2.3 billion, can stave off the former King of Pop's much-needed sale of his portion of Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson is currently at risk of defaulting on over $270 million in loans from Bank of America. Burkle owns the largest supermarket chain in America, thanks to his acquisition of Kroger Stores. He is also the largest supplier of produce to McDonald's. His Yucaipa Companies also owns the...

In a Nov. 12 Orange Grove column ["Beware of stealth socialism"], I discussed the problems created when government pension funds are invested in private companies. The Register has since highlighted a heretofore-unconsidered problem - political patronage. A media group sued CalPERS to force it to divulge money-management fees it paid to financial companies. CalPERS stonewalled, and for good reason. The information it finally released showed it paid Yucaipa Cos. $8.6 million to manage a reported $50 million. If these numbers are correct, that's a whopping 17 percent fee, or about 17 times higher than what reputable mutual finds charge. The...

As Governor Gray Davis begins his 2nd term, he faces a host of problems. One in particular that is likely to be among his greatest challenges - yet to date has received limited attention -- is reform of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). CalPERS is the nation's largest pension fund. In keeping with what Smart Money described as "the nation's most formidable force in shareholder activism," it has a reputation of being an international corporate governance watchdog, using its weighty economic clout to impose its will on large and small companies alike. Yet due to the Davis...

--- Does a Trail Exist? --- Published November 4, 2002 by Forest Glen Durland Copyright 2002 by Forest Glen Durland Contents Introduction Treasures attracting various types of people. Gold Fever!!! Tracks - Footprints in the Sand. Here is where the action starts. Definitions Land Swap Game - Here's the routine. Players in the Game References and sources of documentation with excerpts to help research scholars. End Note   Introduction Only facts are presented with links to documentation. The readers are free to check that documentation and form their own conclusions. There definitely exists a big bucks scam involving the swapping...

Millions involved; no laws broken SACRAMENTO - Newly released documents from the nation's largest pension fund show board members voted to invest $760 million with a company after its founder gave several of them more than $25,000 each in campaign contributions. Ronald Burkle, who worked his way up from a grocery bagger at 13 to run the nation's largest supermarket company, has given more than $2 million in political contributions - mostly to Democrats - in recent years. During that time, he's traveled on national trade missions with Cabinet members, hosted heads of state at his historic Beverly Hills mansion,...